Eve
by InkandSoul
Summary: A newly created vampire, Eve has already realised that she's different from others of her kind. Riley's becoming more of a moron as time passes. Will Eve find out what makes her so different? Can she and Riley work together when danger comes knocking?
1. Chapter 1

**Heyy :) This is chapter one of "Eve", a fanfic with a twist. MidnightDisturbia and DrawntotheNight have collaborated on this one, about a sixteen year old vampire called Eve. During the day Eve is an ordinary schoolgirl, with ordinary friends. But by night, she is far more powerful than she looks. This is the first collaboration we've done and we really hope you enjoy it!**

**MidnightDisturbia & DrawntotheNight = Both creators, both come up with ideas.**

**MidnightDisturbia = Writes.**

**DrawntotheNight = Edits.**

**Enjoy! xx**

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The wind whipped Eve's midnight black hair around her face as she peered over the cliff edge. Her icy blue eyes pierced through the clouds below, the way she would usually try to see right through to a person's soul. Eve sighed. With a slow movement she turned with her back to the sharp 1,000 ft drop below her. She stretched her arms out either side of her, and took a step back to the very tip of the precipice. With a grace that was almost ghostly in its nature Eve leaned backwards, until her feet left the precipice entirely and she plummeted, elegant, into the night.

Eve sat bolt upright in bed, her eyes darting frantically around the room. When she saw nothing but her familiar possessions and the moonlight streaming through the windows she relaxed. Her hands rested over her face for a few seconds as she sighed, and then pushed her hair back out of the way. In her dream she had been falling, landing perfectly on two feet. With a groan she remembered that she really had been falling. Eve tried not to think about the confrontation she'd had with Riley as she laid back down and closed her eyes.

Sleep came faster than she thought it would, but it seemed like only seconds after her brain shut down that it was re-woken. Her eyes snapped open and she held her breath. Eve could sense, plain as day, someone was in her room. Taking a second to calm herself she got ready to switch on her beside light. When she did so it was in one fluid movement, and she turned to face the intruder. "GOD, RILEY! WHY DO YOU ALWAYS DO THAT!?" Riley shot a devilish grin at Eve from his relaxed position on her computer chair.

"Nice to see you too."

"Get. Out. Of. My. ROOM!"

"Jesus Christ girl, calm it! Your parents will wake up!"

"What do you want? I thought we discussed everything earlier?"

"We did, but I thought you could use a top-up round about now after that impressive jump." Eve scowled, catching the sachet of blue liquid that Riley threw at her with ease. She continued to scowl at him as he kept grinning, until finally she gave an exasperated sigh.

"Do you really want to watch this?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, sweetie." Eve gave a faint growl at Riley's last word, before ripping open the sachet of blood. The liquid immediately turned red as the oxygen hit it. At exactly the same time the scent hit Eve. Her eyes instantaneously burned a neon blue. Two matching glows of bright blue faintly lit up her room as her tattooed wrists glowed simultaneously. She pressed the packet to her lips and threw her head back, letting the blood trickle down her throat, feeling her canines extend by a centimetre. It was surprisingly satisfying. The last few droplets fell onto her tongue and she leaned forwards again. Her eyes had stopped glowing and her teeth were starting to recede. The light that had previously been coming from the two symmetrical tattoos on her wrists had also disappeared. Eve studied the tattoos for a minute, tracing each swirl of the patterns with her eyes, before looking back up at Riley. She tossed him the empty sachet.

"Enjoy the show?" she asked sarcastically.

"You put on a star performance hun."

"Shut _up_." Eve forced her eyes to glow again as she gave him a fierce look.

"Wow, I've never seen vampire eyes glow like that before. Or your tattoos for that matter." Eve sighed. There could be no scaring Riley.

"What's your fascination with what I can do, moron?" Riley laughed off the insult.

"Maybe I just like your room."

"Oh, I bet you do," Eve said with strong sarcasm in her voice. "You've been here every night for the last month! What are you, my personal stalker?" Just when she thought Riley's grin couldn't get any bigger, guess what? It did.

"I'm about to be," he said, sounding almost smug. "I've just enrolled at your school."

"WHAT!?" Eve exploded. Her parents stirred in the next room.

"Eve honey, are you okay?"

"Yeah mum, just had a nightmare."

"Okay..." Eve turned back in Riley's direction and found that he was no longer there. He was now standing over by her open window.

"I'll see you in Gym." He winked, and was gone before Eve had the chance to throw something.

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**Thanks for reading, if you review we'll give you a cookie and two gold stars! :P**

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	2. Chapter 2

**Hi guys! :) This is chapter two. Hope you enjoy! **

**Luna345: Thankyou for the review, we're glad you find it interesting :) And we will continue to update as often as possible.**

**Mystik Shadows: Thanks so so much for the lovely review :D We really appreciate it and it made us smile :) We're just sorry it took us so long to update *puppy dog eyes* please forgive us!**

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Eve waltzed into Gym class the next morning, feeling triumphant. Riley, being the moron that he was, hadn't realised that the Gym classes weren't mixed. Therefore, the idiot would be subjected to rugby while Eve was doing football. Ha. One point to Eve. She and her friends were standing around on the football pitch, waiting for their teacher. They were new, and they were late. Eve scuffed her trainer against the grass, thinking of last night. Riley was the most annoying person - _vampire _- she knew. He was the only vampire she knew. It was so difficult when he was being such an idiot all the time - she wanted to kick his arse for the stupid terms of endearment he used on her, but Eve was smart enough to know that she couldn't fall out with her only supplier of blood. That would just be plain stupid. With a sigh, she replayed their "confrontation" last night in her head. Riley had been waiting with her weekly supply at their usual spot and the usual time, although why Eve couldn't just stop by his house she didn't know. Everything had been fine until Riley had made one of his stupid comments and Eve had flipped at him.

"Ohmigosh, check out the new coach!" A high-pitched voice brought her out of her stupor.

"Jesus Christ he's hot!" A chorus of wolf-whistles cut through the comments. Eve looked up and saw them gawking at the new coach. Typical. She bet he wasn't even that fit. Just to be sure, she snuck a look at him.

"Oh.

My.

GOD!"

Riley was striding across the field towards them, looking as cocky and irritating as ever, carrying a bag full of footballs. He was going to DIE for this!!! "Hey," he said, while Eve was still imagining tearing his stupid head off and using _that _for a football. "I'm your new coach." He winked. "The name's Mr Smith." Eve laughed quietly to herself. Way to go Riley, pick the easiest name to fake in the history of the world. That really says a lot for your intelligence. She could see Riley's eyes scanning the crowd of drooling girls for her, and when he found her he gave Eve a cheeky smile that made her want to slap him so hard he flew all the way to Timbucktoo. Eve fixed him with a deadly glare, but Riley just laughed. "Okay girls," Riley said rubbing his hands together enthusiastically. "For a warm up, let's do a lap or two of the pitch. Off you go." Instantly Eve could hear faint mumblings of:

"Oh my God, he's so harsh!" She rolled her eyes. Typical. But then they suddenly broke into grins and dashed off on their first lap; it was a moment or two before she realised that their re-found enthusiasm stemmed from the fact that they had a chance to impress "Mr Smith" - a.k.a "I'm-so-up-myself-even-the-stick-up-my-arse-has-a-stick-up-its-arse butt-head Riley" - with their non-existent P.E skills. Now, as she looked around, she saw that it was just her and Riley standing together. And then she started running. Not to impress Riley, but to get as far away from the undead frog-licking twat as possible. Eve inwardly sighed.

Trust Riley to become her teacher. He really was a stalker after all. Maybe he'd been following her since even before she'd been turned? He'd said he had university qualifications from the 50s - who knows, maybe he had a Ph.D in Professional Stalking? She looked over her shoulder as she ran, to find that Riley was running after her. Eve picked up her speed to near-superhuman, easily passing by the other girls that had had a minute's headstart. She glanced back again and let out a string of curses when she realised that Riley, too, was gaining speed. "Come on, show-off!" he shouted, trying not laugh. "Slow down a bit!" Eve half turned around to bellow back.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she yelled sarcastically, pouting. "Are you getting too old to run?" Stupid maggot-eating-OAP-vampire.....making her look stupid....she was going to re-murder him later.

"That's done it," Riley whispered under his breath. "She's going down!" He didn't have to push himself to go any faster, easily picking up the pace and sailing forwards until he was running parrallel to Eve.

"You didn't say you were going to be my _teacher_!" she hissed, too low for an ordinary human to hear.

"I didn't say I was going to be a pupil, either." Eve almost growled in response.

"Tell me, do you want your balls to stay attached or do you want them down your throat?"

"Now, now, don't get too fiesty or I'll put you in detention," he said with a wink.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me." They continued running in silence, Eve giving Riley her most effective Death Glare, while he just smirked like the brainless idiot he was.

"Stop," he said suddenly. They both came to a abrupt standstill. Eve looked around, dazed. They were a few feet away from the rest of the class, who were standing and staring at them.

"How many laps did we do?" Eve whispered. Riley shrugged.

"I wasn't counting. Back to class, young lady!" And he jogged over to the group of gaping teenage girls before Eve could land a decent kick somewhere below the belt. Eve smirked, then said under her breath:

"Oh, I can't wait until we do self-defence next lesson."

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**Well, you weren't expecting _that _were you? Or _were _you? Dun dun DUNNNNNNN! :P Hehe. Next chapter we'll be revealing more about the characters :) We'll update as soon as possible, but we have GCSE exams coming up so it might be a little while. Sorry Mystik :(**

**But we'll try! :D**

**R&R, it makes our days :) xxx**


	3. Chapter 3

**:O Omg. Two chapters in two days - that must be a new world record! For us, of course :) This chapter is more of a gap-filler. We've planned the rest of the story out, so we know what's going to happen ;) Hehe *shows fangs* Hope you like it, some of us *cough* DRAWNTOTHENIGHT *cough* went mad with lack of sleep while trying to write this. Mwahaha.**

**:P**

**xx**

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Eve couldn't help but notice that she was attracting a lot of strange stares from everyone.

"Oh my God, I can't even go down town anymore without everyone looking at me! Do they know I'm a vampire, or do I have a 'Kick Me' sign permanently attached to my back?" Eve thought to herself. She continued to glare back at the old lady sitting across the aisle from her as the bus came to a standstill. As she walk off the bus she kept her head held high, proving that she didn't care what the strangers thought. Besides, it wasn't like she'd ever see them again.

She waltzed into the nearest cafe, the glass double doors swinging silently shut behind her. The heels of her black, knee-high leather boots clicked against the laminate wood flooring as she headed for the counter. The crowd of scared-looking 12 year old girls that made up the queue dispersed as soon as she got close enough. Eve rolled her eyes. God, surely her 6 inch heels and black summer dress weren't _that_ foreboding?

"One Mochacinno please" She said to the woman at the counter, smiling.

"Well, well, well," came a voice that Eve _really _didn't want to hear, from one of the leather sofas. "Scaring the little kids now are we Eve?"

"Well, Riley, it's not my fault that your face is enough to scare them off." Riley laughed. He was sitting on the two-seat sofa in the furthest corner on her left, beside a pot plant that was draping green fronds all over the floor.

"I think it's more those boots than my face." Eve paid for her Mochacinno and stalked over to the sofa opposite Riley.

"I'd be careful what you say," she said as she sat down. Then, in a lower tone, she added, "These heels are made out of wood, y'know. You know what stakes to the heart are supposed to do to us."

"Clever. Carry around your own death trap. And I thought you were supposed to be smart."

"At least I'm not as idiotic as you." Eve raised her eyebrows as she sipped her drink. "What's your IQ? 0.2?"

"Well, that's open for debate – " But Riley stopped talking as the sound of hushed whispers reached his ears. He glanced over Eve's shoulder.

"What?" Eve asked, setting her drink down. She twisted around in her seat to see what had made the arse in front of her suddenly shut up. _Nothing _could make Riley shut up. Standing in the doorway was a large group of girls Eve's age, glaring at her and mumbled to one another. "Oh, hey guys!" Eve waved, smiling, recognizing her friends from PE class. Her smile faltered when she heard one girl mutter:

"Ho, following our teacher around." Ordinary human ears wouldn't have heard it, but with her vampire hearing it was clearly audible.

"Hey, I was only coming to get a Mochacinno. Ri – I mean, Mr Smith, just happened to be here. Cut me some slack."

"Oh my God, she knows his name! Urgh."

"God," Riley murmured. "This is worse than the Lycan War of 1932."

"Don't make me come over there!" Eve whispered threateningly.

"She's talking to him like he's her best friend or something! You're gross, Eve!" The girls all turned in unison and began to make their way out of the cafe.

Eve felt her blood boiling. She got to her feet, all for running after those stupid "friends" of hers and doing some serious damage. I'll kick them to kingdom come, she planned. Then pull out their stupid, prissy blonde hair. Then I'll chain them up and feed them to the Lycans.... "Eve, stop!" Riley caught hold of her wrist and held her back.

"Let. Me. Go. Douche." Eve hissed. "Or I'll chain _you _up and feed _you _to the Lycans." Riley shook his head in mock sadness.

"No can do. And the last time I saw a Lycan was 1956. Never go down a dark alley when you're on your own.....Lycan fangs hurt."

"Oh, shut up Riley." He reluctantly loosened his hold on her. Eve continued for the doorway.

"Where are you going?" Riley called after her.

"For a run," she answered, although it didn't take vampire senses to hear the rain that was pounding down on the roof of the small building.

"You can't go for a run, it's chucking it down out there!"

"Watch me." She was out the door and down the street in a flash. Riley looked around wildly. None of the humans in the cafe seemed to have noticed Eve's impossibly fast disappearing act. Good. With a sigh he returned to the sofa. _Why _did Eve have to be so _difficult_? If he wasn't already 300-odd years old she probably would have worn him into old age by now, having to run around after her all the time. Smirking, Riley picked up what was left of Eve's Mochacinno and directed his attention at the football match playing on the TV in the corner, pretending that nothing had ever happened.

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	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys :] Sorry it's been so long, but between us we've had BILLIONS of exams [okay, so not billions exactly, but loads!] and just haven't had the time to get together and write some more of this. But we're starting to plan and draft the rest of the story and flesh out our ideas a bit more, so we'll try and keep it coming.**

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Riley. Urgh. Even the mere thought of him made her want to punch someone. Not to mention having to see him every day at school. And now he'd even started hanging out in her favourite coffee shop. Moron.

It had been two days since the confrontation in the coffee shop. Today was her first self-defence class with her new teacher: Mr Hey-Everybody-Look-At-Me-I'm-An-Arrogant-Moron-Who-Just-Happens-To-Have-A-Crazily-Attractive-Smile. "What the hell? Riley's smile is anything but attractive," Eve muttered to herself. "He looks like a frog being squashed for God's sake." Eve was taking her time changing so that she was the last out of the changing rooms. The other girls still hated her after catching her talking to Riley. Just before she was about to walk out of the door she caught her reflection in a mirror. She stopped, checking she look okay and practicing her best I-Couldn't-Give-A-Toss look.

With a quick toss of her hair Eve left the changing rooms, and instantly caught sight of Riley staring at her. He glanced from her shorts to her eyes and raised his eyebrows, a devilish grin appearing on his face. Eve held up a finger and hissed under her breath, "_Don't _even _think _about it, perve!" Riley laughed. He turned and waltzed into the Gym, Eve trailing behind him giving the back of his head murderous looks.

"Alright class!" he said, rubbing his hands together enthusiastically. "Good morning to you all, ladies." He smiled broadly. All the girls in the class visibly melted. _Poor, poor girls, _Eve thought. _They're lucky really. He has the brain size of a pea._

"Okay, so, can I have Eve up here?" The rest of the class dissolved into hushed whispers. _WHAT! _Eve wanted to scream. "Come on Eve, you know what I want you to do, so you need to show the rest of the class."

"Uh. No." _Not unless you want me to cut something off that's very precious to you men._

"Uhm. Yeah."

"Uh. _No._"

"Uhm. _Detention._"

"Urgh. _Fine._" Eve rolled her eyes and stomped to the front of the class. "_Asshole," _she said quietly as she stood next to him, completely oblivious that the rest of the class could hear her.

"_Detention_."

"ARGH. Get on with it." Riley chuckled.

"Right, Eve. I want you to be my attacker. Put me in a chokehold." Eve smirked. _Hallelujah!_

"Gladly, _Sir_."

A split second later Eve had Riley bent double, her arm around his neck. "Impressive," Riley said. _Shame, Riley. You're forgetting I could kick your ass anytime I want. _

"How did you learn about chokeholds?" one of the other girls asked, looking slightly on edge. Eve laughed.

"You don't want to know," she said, tightening her grip on Riley.

"Now, Eve, don't resist if you feel like I'm breaking your hold. Let it go." _Not likely, douche._

"Oh, you can still talk? Maybe I should tighten it up a bit," Eve murmured in tones too low for humans to hear, her lips barely moving.

"_Detention, _sweetie, _Detention._"

"I really hate you, you know that?"

"Awesome. I love you too. Mwah."

"Ew. _Perve alert!_" Riley rolled his eyes.

"Just do it, Eve."

"Urgh, okay," she said reluctantly.

She loosened her grip just a fraction, and Riley's sudden movement took her completely by surprise. He leaned backwards into her and grabbed the hand on his shoulder, before turning round and quickly twisting her arm behind her back. "Oh my God!" a girl in the class whispered, shocked.

"Why can't I be his partner?" another girl whined.

"Does this look particularly comfortable to you?" Eve grumbled, wishing Riley could see the dirty look she was trying to give him. Struck with sudden inspiration, Eve kicked her foot out behind her. Unfortunately Riley dodged and she missed her target, but she thought the message had gotten across.

"Okay, okay!" Riley said, letting go of her. "You could have just asked..."

"Now, where would the fun in that be?" smirked Eve as she smoothed her T-Shirt down.

Grinning, Riley turned to face the rest of the class. "Right girls, pair up, and I'll take you through step by step with Eve." _Great. Just great._ Eve grudgingly went through the same exercise over and over and _over _again with Riley, hating every second of it. It wasn't long before the other girls started complaining about various things.

"Oh my God, I broke a nail!"

"My _hair_!"

"I can't _do it _Riley, can you help me?" and all the other little remarks that made Eve _really _want to hurt something. A lot. Despite the numerous eyelashes being batted in his direction, Riley didn't pay any attention to the flirting.

"Sure girls," he said. Then, turning, "Eve, would you mind giving them a hand?" The girls' smiles instantly vanished to be replaced with dark looks. Eve, who was leaning against the Gym wall and wishing she was anywhere else but here, cocked her head to one side and narrowed her eyes at her 'teacher'.

"I dunno...aren't you supposed to be the teacher, sir?"  
"Yeah, but seeing as you're such an expert already...?" Shrugging, Eve held back a grin.

"What if I don't want to?" Riley raised an eyebrow challengingly.

"You _really _want that detention, don't you?" He took a couple of steps towards her and lowered his voice so that nobody else would be able to hear, and flashed her a grin that showed just a glimpse of his fangs. "How about I cut off your blood supply?" he asked playfully. Sure, he didn't mean it, but Eve was pissed and he was just making it worse. She scowled at him and stalked over to the nearest group of girls.

"Bite me," she hissed under her breath.

"Don't tempt me," Riley muttered back with a wink.

At the end of the class Riley gathered the glass around in group, smiling enthusiastically. "Well done girls, you've all worked really hard today." Eve stood at the back of the group, fixing Riley with her best death glare. _Maybe, if I try hard enough, he'll die?_ she thought. "I look forward to seeing your progression throughout the next few lessons." _Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die._ "Eve? Are you listening?" _Die. Die. Die. DIE goddamn it!_

"Yes sir, of course."

"I was just saying I want to have a word with you before you go." Eve rolled her eyes, her expression darkening.

"Fine."

The other girls disappeared into the changing rooms to get dressed, leaving Riley and Eve standing in the Gym. "What is it, Riley? I haven't got all day." Smirking, Riley folded his arms.

"Meet me at the usual spot, tonight – midnight. I'll be waiting."

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**Review, please :] You have no idea how helpful they are! Don't forget the free cookies/llamas/gold stars ;]**


	5. Chapter 5

**Phew! So, we're incredibly sorry for the delay in updating! School has just been crazy and we literally haven't had any time to really get together and write - still, hopefully this dramatic chapter will make up for our absence :P**

**Hope you enjoy! xx**

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At exactly 11:30pm, half an hour early, Eve sat silently on the cliff-top. Her feet dangled dangerously over the edge, heavy leather boots threatening to either slip off or pull her down – but she knew that wouldn't happen. She was, however, wondering how to kill half an hour. Eve gazed out into the night. To her left the darkness seemed almost solid, stretching out as a never ending world of black. The clear night sky met the deep ocean at the distant horizon and blended into the abyss.

But if she looked to her right, the oblivion was interrupted by a million winking lights in the distance, separated from her only by a wide river and a long, steel bridge. At that time of night the bridge was lit up by dozens of slightly clearer lights, and headlights continued in both directions in a steady flow along it. They reminded Eve of ants. She concentrated on the city lights as a familiar feeling of longing seeped into her heart.

"_Oh come on Britney! It's only Dracula, it's ancient!"_

"_But it's scary!"_

"_Vampires don't even exist. Besides, they suck. There, I said it."_

"_Yeah, but you've seen this film loads of times Eve!"_

Eve shook her head to clear her mind. The city lights burned more brightly, as if determined to plague her with thoughts of the life she'd lost. It kept happening more and more often; the haunting fragments of memories that forced their way into her brain and then left just as quickly. Her old friends' words echoed ghost-like in her mind. Mentally, Eve tried to shake herself. Those days were done. Over. She had to let them go. She wasn't that girl anymore. She'd stopped being that girl the day Riley had entered her life.

_Roxanna screamed. "Two against one isn't fair!" Eve laughed and Britney threw her pillow at the third member of the group. It bounced harmlessly off her shoulder but caused her to scream again. Roxanna launched her own pillow at Britney, missing by miles, but cheered when Eve's pillow hit their best friend in the face. Eve's victory was short-lived: soon she disappeared beneath a mountain of duvets, feather pillows and two laughing girls._

"Daydreaming again, are we?" Riley's words cut through the silent night like a bullet, startling her back to the present. Eve was on her feet within seconds and facing him.

"Damn it, Riley! Don't _do _that!" Riley chuckled, stepping forwards with his hands in his pockets. Eve watched him for a second, then narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Anyway, I thought you said midnight?"

"I also said I'd be waiting." He cocked his head slightly to one side and for a second, Eve could have sworn she saw genuine concern in his eyes. "But really, are you okay?"

"Yeah," she lied. "Why wouldn't I be?"

For a moment, Riley only looked at her. She could see the beginnings of a frown just underneath the surface of his confused expression. She met his soul-searching gaze unfalteringly. What went on in her life was her business. Not his. But then he smirked, the Riley that she knew returning. "I don't know," he began. "Maybe because I kicked your ass at self-defence today?" Eve snorted – she didn't want to admit being secretly glad for the change of subject.

"Um, doubt it! I only let you win so it wouldn't look suspicious."

"Is that a challenge?" He quirked an eyebrow curiously and took a step forward, drawing himself up to his full height. Somewhere between intrigued and infuriated, Eve hesitantly edged backwards.

"Maybe."

Riley's eyes twinkled with well-hidden laughter and something that Eve couldn't name. It looked almost like a kind of challenging need. But it couldn't be. Riley never needed anyone or anything...did he? As she stood there, unmoving, Riley's expression remained unreadable. It was the first time she noticed that when his face was void of emotion his eyes often betrayed him. The gateway to his soul was hidden in their deep blue depths, carefully concealed until it decided to take matters into its own hands. And that made Eve wonder, just for a split second, if there might be more to Riley than he let her see. "Eve?"

Eve was dragged out of her thoughts when Riley clicked his fingers in front of her eyes. "What?" she asked, irritated.

"Are you okay? You totally blanked out."

"Yeah. Sorry," Eve muttered bluntly. It was obvious that she wasn't sorry at all. Riley's eyes flashed with another nameless emotion, and Eve actually felt a flicker of guilt in her heart.

"Let me guess. Another problem you won't tell me about?"

"You mean, another problem that's none of your business?" Eve snapped, suddenly angry. Her anger stemmed from the fact that she knew he was right.

She took another step forward so that they were toe to toe, and she had to crane her neck at an odd angle to look up at him. "Why did you even want to meet me here?" she demanded. Eve hated how Riley always seemed to know what was on her mind. And even more, she hated that he wanted her to come to _him _with _her _problems. She'd decided a long time ago that she didn't need him. She didn't need his help 'adjusting' and she didn't need him there every night when the nightmares made her wake up trembling and screaming. But the moron just didn't get the message. He still expected her to confide in him, and still always tried to calm her down in the middle of every night.

"Eve?" The softness in Riley's tone caught her unawares. She'd fixed the ground with her gaze as she tried not to crumble from the emotional turmoil inside – the same confusing mess of different feelings that had been slowly eating away at her for the last few months. But now she looked up again, into his eyes, and just didn't know what to do. "Are you alright?" Riley asked. For a moment, Eve thought she heard actual concern in his voice. But then, she reminded herself, she was the girl nobody cared about. The girl with no friends. No human ones, anyway. Who could ever really, truly care about her?

"Will you stop asking me that?"

Instantly Eve felt the guilt seep into her heart. She didn't mean to shout. But...didn't he understand? She'd just had her entire life torn away from her to become this..._thing_. She was never going to be alright. Not now that she'd had her friends, her family, her whole freaking _humanity_ taken away because of the gnat that couldn't wait until his next fix. The thought of his fangs piercing her skin, the pain as he stole her blood – it made her sick. And that was without looking at the two circular scars on her neck, visible only to vampire eyes because of the minute size they'd healed up to. Who would ever be able to drink from something living like that? Even Riley only took blood in vial shots.

Eve tried not to shudder. One thing that terrified her about this new life was the danger, the risk, the chances; the possibility that she might one day lose her grip on her animalistic instincts to feed. Riley laid his hand on her shoulder gently and said, "I just want to help." He meant well. Eve knew he did, deep down. But that was it. Eve's last straw. She didn't _want _his goddamned help! Before Riley could even blink she had drawn her right fist back and launched it forward, colliding with his jaw. The sudden right hook caused him to stumble backwards a few paces.

Riley simply stared at her. His hand was held gingerly over the place she'd struck him, and once more his eyes turned traitor; they swam with confusion and hurt, but Eve was too far gone in her anger to notice. She'd _never _hit him before, not with the intention of seriously hurting him. Never. But Eve tried to hit him again. She propelled herself forward and attempted to hit him in the chest, but he caught her wrist. Eve was making unintelligible noises now, words unrecognisable through her tears. Her fists pounded weakly against his chest, hurting a little because of her vampire strength, but Riley didn't try to stop her. He let her hurt him and let her get it all out.

"You can't help me, Riley!" Eve seemed to cry. It was the only thing he could understand with the sobs shaking her shoulders and her tears soaking his shirt. He thought he heard the word 'monster' a couple of times and was a little offended until he realised she was talking about herself. But then, he supposed, he and she were one and the same. He still thought that of himself, even after all these years. The first few months were always tough: the first month he'd been with her every night, reading or just keeping watch while she slept to wake her up from the nightmares. But then she suddenly changed. Eve started to push him away when he became too close.

Theirs was more of a love-hate relationship, based around their carefully constructed façades – hers, a tough exterior. A sense of independence fuelled by the belief that she could, and had to, look after herself. His, acting like he didn't care. Acting indifferent to her troubles and playing the fool because he didn't want to lose her, though he knew she didn't want his help. But could he stop himself from at least _trying _to help her? No.

Eventually Eve's knees gave out. She slid to the floor, still sobbing noisily. Riley knelt down beside her and was about to help her to her feet when she did something she hadn't done in a long while. Eve grabbed onto him, gripping his shirt tightly in her hands, clinging to him like he was the last safe thing in the world and he could disappear at any moment. "You can't help me, Riley," she sobbed again into the crook of his neck. "You j-just c-an't. Why m-me? Why did h-he have to p-pick me?" And that was the last thing she said for a while. Riley was at a complete loss for what to do. It had to be the shock of everything finally getting to her – Eve had never broken down this badly before. After that first shaky month, when there had been no doubt that she needed him, Eve had toughened up. She'd become more independent, defensive. She'd developed a talent for sarcasm and stubbornness. But that wasn't her. Riley knew it, felt it in his heart. It was only a defence mechanism, her way of coping. Eve wasn't really the girl she was pretending to be.

"I hate you." That brought Riley out of his thoughts with a thud. Eve was trying to hit him again, failing miserably, and sobbing words into his shirt in a broken voice. "I hate you!" The words still hurt, although he could tell there was no truth behind them. She was looking for someone to blame, and he was the nearest thing. So he knelt there with her in his arms and took it.

He took it until there was nothing else for her to vent. After half an hour her sobs grew quiet and she leant, almost lifeless in her appearance, against Riley's chest, arms round his neck and face hidden. Riley knew that they should move, but he wasn't sure how she would react if he spoke. So he was sure to keep his arms tight around her, preventing her from breaking away and disappearing and doing something stupid. Keeping her calm. "Do you want to go home?" Riley's words took Eve by surprise. She'd been expecting him to make a comment, but he hadn't. Still, she did want to go home. Her sudden breakdown had been embarrassing to say the least. She'd thought she was stronger than that, that her façade was unbreakable. Eve took a minute to answer, but when she did, all she could manage to do was nod.

Riley untangled himself from her a little. Within a few moments Eve felt his gentle hands pick her up and arrange themselves so he was holding her bridal style. Then he started in the direction of her house. Eve didn't really pay much attention to her surroundings as he moved, only registering his changes in motion as he was careful not to be spotted. Instead she remained silent, keeping her eyes closed, trying to hold onto the feeling of safety. When he reached her house he used the tree outside to reach her open bedroom window and climb quietly inside. He set her down slowly on her bed and her eyes flickered open again, but Eve was so exhausted she just couldn't move. She could barely keep herself upright.

Riley watched her for a moment in worry, assessing the situation. Would she kill him for helping her more? With her in her current state, he doubted it. He knelt in front of her at the foot of her bed and untied the laces of her army boots, setting them neatly to one side. He then picked her up again and laid her down on the bed on top of the quilt, pulling the top cover up over her. Her eyes slid closed again and Riley decided he probably wouldn't be needed any longer. He took one last look at her before crossing silently to the window, preparing to climb out as he'd done so many times in the past few months. But before he could leave, Eve spoke. The words were quiet, murmured, but audible, and they caught him off guard.

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean it," Eve whispered. "I don't hate you, Riley." Her voice sounded hoarse from all the crying. "Please...please stay." It would be a lie to say Riley didn't hesitate. He knew she needed him to protect her, comfort her, the way he wanted to. Even if she tried not to show it or admit it. But what would happen when she woke up, and they were no longer in this situation, and she had a clearer head? What part of his anatomy would he risk losing then? What made up his mind was Eve's sniffle. It reminded him that while she acted like she could take care of herself, she was still only young. Not a child anymore, but young. And she needed him.

"Sure, Eve," he murmured, knowing she'd be able to hear. He crossed the room and sat down in her computer chair, in his usual spot, preparing himself for the long night ahead. It was already the early hours of the morning, and by the time Eve woke up her parents would have already left for work - but when the time in between was filled with the kind of nightmares Eve had, it was usually a long night.

"R-Riley?" Even her whisper seemed loud in the silence.

"Yeah, Eve?"

Eve sniffed again, the last of her tears drying on her cheeks. "Do you think...could you maybe...lie with me?" Her voice broke on the last word and, for a second, Riley thought she might burst into tears again. Overcome with new emotions, ones he hadn't felt in a long time, he got to his feet and moved to the bed. Riley sank down carefully onto the mattress beside Eve, shifting onto his side so that he could face her. She moved unexpectedly and pressed close to him, relaxing. "Thank you," she whispered. Riley looked down at her and wondered if this was actually happening. How had her tough exterior disappeared so quickly? How fast would she be able to replace it? "I guess I'm not as strong as I thought, huh?" Eve said with a half-hearted chuckle, trying to lighten the atmosphere. The corner of Riley's mouth turned upwards, but the only thing he found funny was how they were acting like this when, as a rule, they weren't supposed to like each other.

He shushed her quietly and put an arm around her, which made her relax fully and sigh as all the tension flooded out of her body. "Sleep, Eve," he murmured. "Everything else can wait until the morning."

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**That's two in one day for DrawntotheNight, she's on a roll with the updates ;) Anyways, don't forget to leave a review and let us know what you think! 'Til next time! xx**


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